Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 50 › Conversation 050-004

White House tour group on White House tour and Cabinet Room

Tuesday, March 9, 1971 · 9:43 AM–3:06 PM ET · Cabinet Room · 3 min

ParticipantsWhite House tour groupConversation050-004 on Tape 50StartTuesday, March 9, 1971 at 9:43 AMEndTuesday, March 9, 1971 at 3:06 PMRecording deviceCabinet RoomSourceNixon Library record for 050-004 ↗ · National Archives Catalog, NAID 417174095 ↗

AI Summary

A White House tour group visited the Cabinet Room, during which an unidentified guide explained the room's seating arrangements, the history of the Cabinet table, and pointed out portraits, including one of Eisenhower. The conversation included general observations and questions from the tour participants about the room's features and occupants.

Audio

Download MP3 · 1.7 MB

This clip of the conversation was cut from the tape by the National Archives (catalog record ↗).

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NARA Description

On March 9, 1971, a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:43 am and 3:06 pm. The Cabinet Room taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 050-004 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 50-4

Date: Unknown between March 9 and March 16, 1971
Time: Unknown between 9:43 am, March 9 and 3:06 pm, March 16, 1971
Location: Cabinet Room

Unknown people [a tour group] met

******************************************************************************

BEGIN WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1
[Personal Returnable]
[Duration: 2m 31s ]

END WITHDRAWN ITEM NO. 1

******************************************************************************

The unknown people [tour group] left at an unknown time before 3:06 pm, March 16, 1971

Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript was made by an AI model listening to the recording (gemini-3.8-flash) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Speaker names are the model's inference from the voices and the participant list. Words and names can still be wrong — verify against the audio and the finding aid before citing.

Download transcript (.txt) · JSON data

Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).

Unknown[unintelligible]
UnknownSure.
UnknownNo [unintelligible] picture.
Unknown[laughter] [unintelligible] you can say they've done that. Come on [unintelligible].
UnknownThe president. [laughter]
UnknownYou're the first lady president [unintelligible]. Congratulations. Greatest achievement.
UnknownShe changed places with everybody [laughter] [unintelligible].
Unknown[laughter]
UnknownThe vice president sits right across?
UnknownThat's right. The seating goes across, and then, working out from the president and vice president by the seniority of the department. The oldest department the closest.
UnknownRight.
UnknownIs this the gift of the [unintelligible]?
UnknownThat's right. There has been a table in here. It was given during the Roosevelt administration, Franklin Roosevelt, and last year, the president had this installed. It's specially made. And it's his personal gift to the White House [unintelligible].
UnknownBeautiful.
UnknownMommy. Look at the vases.
UnknownAnd when- when one of these um Eisenhower I think that's Eisenhower. Look at this picture of Eisenhower.
UnknownEisenhower. What? Look at this Eisenhower.
UnknownFresh as brand-new. So there are no 1971s.
UnknownWell, that would be Morton? Yeah.
UnknownWell, that isn't supposed to go by the seniority.
UnknownOh, John Connally. Yeah. Now here's a-
UnknownWell, because he's a brand new uh You see, the date is the date the the man taking over the job.
UnknownDad. Hey, dad, look at the vases.
UnknownAll right. Thank you very much, young lady. I appreciate that.
UnknownWe're moving on, then.
UnknownRight. Yeah, we'll just take a peek in the president's office, and we'll see [unintelligible].
UnknownYou could spend a whole day in this room, wouldn't you?

Also recorded on March 9, 1971

  • 464-004 8:00 AM · 4 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 8:00 am to 8:05 am.
  • 050-001 8:05 AM · 1 hr 37 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Republican Congressional Leaders, including Clifford M. Hardin, Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, Hugh Scott, Robert P. Griffin, Margaret Chase Smith, Norris Cotton, Gordon L. Allott, Peter H. Dominick, Gerald R. Ford, Leslie C. Arends, John B. Anderson, Robert T. Stafford, Richard H. Poff, John J. Rhodes, Barber B. Conable, Jr., Robert C. ("Bob") Wilson, H. Allen Smith, Robert J. Dole, George P. Shultz, John D. Ehrlichman, Clark MacGregor, William E. Timmons, Herbert G. Klein, Kenneth E. BeLieu, Patrick J. Buchanan, Harry S. Dent, Ronald L. Ziegler, Bryce N. Harlow, John R. Price, Jr., and Edwin L. Harper, met in the Cabinet Room of the White House from 8:05 am to 9:43 am.
  • 050-002 9:43 AM · 27 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:43 am and 3:06 pm.
  • 050-005 9:43 AM · 15 sec — unknown person(s) met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:43 am and 3:06 pm.
  • 050-006 9:43 AM · 1 min — a White House tour group met in the Cabinet Room of the White House at an unknown time between 9:43 am and 3:06 pm.
  • 464-005 9:58 AM · 37 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House from 9:58 am to 10:36 am.
  • 464-006 10:36 AM · 16 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 10:36 am and 10:40 am.
  • 464-007 10:40 AM · 46 min — President Richard M. Nixon, John L. ("Jack") Swigert, Jr., William R. Pogue, Jack R. Lousma, William A. Anders, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Jeb Stuart Magruder, and White House photographer met in the Oval Office of the White House from 10:40 am to 11:28 am.

All 29 conversations from March 9, 1971 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 050-004, March 9, 1971. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives (NAID 417174095). Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/050-004 (accessed November 2, 2026).